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MEMOIRS 



OF THE 



AMERICAN ACADEMY 



i. 



Plants Fendlerians: Novi-Mexica> t .£ : An Account of a Collection of Plants made 

 chiefly in the Vicinity of Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Augustus Fendler ; with De- 

 scriptions of the New Species, Critical Remarks, and Characters of other undescribed 

 or little known Plants from surrounding Regions. 



Br ASA GRAY, M. D. 



{Communicated to the Academy, November 8th, 184S.) 



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Desirous to render the occupation of New Mexico by the United States troops sub- 

 servient to the advancement of science, and to make known the vegetation of a region 

 which had scarcely been visited by a naturalist, Dr. Engelmann and myself, with the 

 cooperation of one or two friends who patronized the enterprise, induced Mr. Fendler to 

 undertake a botanical exploration of the country around Santa Fe. In execution of this 

 plan, Mr. Fendler left Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, on the 10th of August, 1846, 

 with a military train, he having been allowed by the Secretary of War a free transpor- 

 tation for himself, his luggage, and collections. The following account of his route, 

 and brief indication of the physical features of the country, I copy from a sketch which 

 Dr. Engelmann has kindly furnished.* 



* Further information of interest, as to the character and features of the country, may be found in Dr. 

 Wializenus's Memoir of a Tour to Northern Mexico, in 1846 and 1847, with excellent maps, profile-eleva- 

 tions, &c., printed by the U. S. Senate ; in Lieut. Abert's Report of an Expedition on the Upper Arkansas and 

 through the Country of the Camanche Indians, &c. ; and also, doubtless, in Lieut. Emory's Report, — of which 

 unfortunately, I have not been able to procure a copy. 



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